Posted on 12/05/2008 12:54:10 PM PST by bamahead
College football has been conquered, in nearly every respect, by the Deep South.
The Southeastern Conference, a 76-year-old coalition of 12 universities in nine Southern states stretching from Louisiana to Florida, has won three national college football titles in five years, including the last two by blowout, and has an unrivaled 11-4 record in the Bowl Championship Series since 1999.
Its teams lead the nation in average attendance, have five of the 12 highest-paid coaches in college football and just signed two broadcast deals worth as much as $3 billion over the next 15 years. Tomorrow, Alabama and Florida, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 by the Associated Press, play for the conference title -- with the winner likely heading to the national title game.
The engine of this success is college football's unshakable primacy in Southern culture -- plus the recent shifts in population and wealth, the protection of politicians and some prescient financial moves by the conference that have reinforced it.
In recent years, the South has undergone rapid growth. Twenty-seven of the 50 fastest-growing metropolitan regions in the country in 2007 were in the South, while personal-income growth in the region outpaced the national average over the past decade. These changes have added muscle to the South's historic passion for college football. While they rank low in many measures like per-capita income and educational achievement, states like Alabama and Mississippi rank close to the top in the percentage of high-school students who play football. And among states that have more than 10 native sons playing in the National Football League, the top six producers by percentage of population are Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Georgia...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Uh, umm, er, Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907, so it couldn’t have been part of the Confederacy.
SMU was doing rather well until they got the death penalty. Georgia Tech has also had some good years despite the Falcons being down the street. Same for Pitt.
Indian Territory stood with the Confederacy. Troops from there fought as regular soldiers in Arkansas and perhaps Missouri (I’d have to look that up again). The last Confederate general to surrender was from what is now Oklahoma.
And, while it is somewhat off topic, the Confederacy, unlike the racist north, had minorities serving at the highest ranks of government and the military.
Face it NFL fans: your game is boring.
You said it, not me.
Not only is college football, AND basketball, big in the South, so is highschool football and basketball.
Minimal NFL presence??? Plus, there are enough Southern boys filling the rosters of the Northern teams to keep us interested in those teams as well. ; )
“that’s not going to happen with the average SAT scores”
That reminds me of a local private school that claims all of it’s students have an IQ greater than X. Statistically there are not enough students in the city to produce a student body of their size with all having IQ’s greater than X.
Who really took Teddy K’s SAT exam will always be a mystery...just like Obama’s birth certificate.
That is not what I said at all hinckley buzzard,
What I said is the Florida schools have recruiting a little easier. Most very good players stay in state and many come from out of state to get here, that’s all.
Can’t blame them really.
I know OU is in Big 12 south but the state is not considered a southern state. I have met few Oklahomans that I didn’t really like and trust. They grow good people, good football, and the best wrestlers in the country—and no I am not from Oklahoma.
thanks for the list—I was talking about in one specific sport. This school has won more NCAA championships—name the sport and the school. USC and UCLA have the money to fund far more different sports than most schools, not to mention the population density from which to choose.
T. Boone kinda leveled the playing field for OSU a couple of years back though, didn't he?
For example in most towns in Oklahoma the largest church will be the First Baptist and it will be a Southern Baptist Church. If you go to Nebraska, it will probably be the First Methodist, or Catholic church or even First Baptist, National Baptist association.
Oklahomans are an independent lot. There are more people with Indian blood in OK than any other state.
T. Boone made an attempt, yes, but you still were unable to name the school and sport—it is OSU and the sport is wrestling—I think they have 30 NCAA championships. OSU historically, is not a well-funded university.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.